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Gossip: Van Gaal, Allardyce, Pardew, Sturridge, Woodburn

LOTS OF WEST BROM MANAGER TALK
As is always the way, the sacking of Tony Pulis has prompted a raft of rumours about who will take over from him and where he will end up next. So here goes:

– The Scottish Sun say that Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes is among the contenders. That’s presumably based largely on the fact that McInnes used to be West Brom captain.

– The Sun say that Slaven Bilic is on West Brom’s radar. As in they’ve heard of him?

– The local newspaper to West Brom the Express & Star have done a survey of fans, and concluded that they would choose Ronald Koeman as their new manager.

– The Guardian say that Alan Pardew, Nigel Pearson and Martin O’Neill are all in the running for the job.

– The Daily Mirror say that Sam Allardyce is a target, and it’s weird that we even got this far without mentioning his name.

– Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph say that Pulis will end up at Swansea City if Paul Clement gets sacked. Which is just about the most logical thing anyone has ever heard.

VAN GAAL THE SURPRISE EVERTON NAME
Everton have not yet given up on poaching Marco Silva from Watford, but it looks less and less likely that the Pozzo family are going to let their best manager in at least a decade go without a fight. Given that time is ticking on Everton’s season, they must surely consider giving up and looking elsewhere.

That elsewhere might just be former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, whose return to the Premier League would certainly be intriguing.

Unfortunately the Daily Mirror have done another of those stories based purely on bookmaker odds, reporting that Van Gaal’s odds have been slashed’ for the Everton job. That’s lovely, but it doesn’t mean he’s getting it.

LIVERPOOL COULD LOAN OUT TWO, BUT WON’T SELL STURRIDGE
Firstly, the Sturridge news. Now we wouldn’t expect Jurgen Klopp to say that he was selling his striker in January even if that was his intention, but the Liverpool manager has ruled out any such sale.

Reports have suggested that Sturridge could be available for a move, and that the player would be prepared to take that opportunity ahead of the World Cup next summer. He’s started only 11 Premier League games since the beginning of last season.

“It’s a story. But actually I am not really interested in stories,” Klopp said. “The situation with the player is completely okay. I can imagine a player with his quality is not happy that he is not starting all the time. I really can imagine that. But that’s all.

“At this moment we need all our players. We have November, even if he feels a little different. There is around one-and-a-half months to go before the window opens and I don’t think for a second about things like this. There are so many games before then and I need all of them.”

The second bout of Liverpool news regards Chris Coleman at Sunderland, with the Sunderland Echo claiming that the new manager will make approaches to Liverpool for Ben Woodburn and Danny Ward. Both would arrive on loan deals in January until the end of the season.

Given that neither are close to breaking into the Liverpool first team and were both used by Coleman in his senior Wales squad, you can’t argue with the logic.

AND THE REST
Manchester United have triggered their option on Ander Herrera’s contract… Mesut Ozil has been lined up for an emotional return to his hometown club Schalke… Willian has ended speculation that he wants to move back to Brazil… Borussia Dortmund insist Michael Zorc will not be joining Sven Mislintat at Arsenal… Watford winger Richarlison is attracting interest from China.